A treasure box all your own: the Shaker box. A dignified presence and a beauty born of practical living.

Have you ever seen a Shaker box, that oval-shaped wooden box?

The first time I saw one, its beauty struck me so much that it felt less like a box for simply storing things and more like something meant to hold my own treasures. This time, we'd like to tell you about the Shaker box—an item with a simple, functional beauty that has been made continuously for over 200 years.

Shaker Furniture, Born of the Shakers' Teachings

The Shakers, a Protestant sect founded in the 18th century, began making chairs, chests, tables, and everyday items—collectively known as Shaker furniture—for use in their own daily lives. Among these items was the Shaker box we're introducing today.

The Shakers held "a simple life" as their ideal, valuing uniformity and functionality in their communal way of living. While they eliminated ornate decoration from the tools they needed for daily life, they understood that a well-made tool should be pleasing to look at, not just practical to use. The fact that they sold Shaker furniture to outsiders to fund their activities may also be one reason why their work embodies not mere simplicity, but a "functional and meaningful beauty."

The teaching "hands to work, hearts to God" shaped their approach to furniture making, and the wooden furniture born from their diligent handiwork has had a great influence on American art history. As evidence of this, although it's said that only a few Shakers remain today, sites where their way of life and philosophy can be understood have been preserved throughout the country, and the Shaker furniture and boxes they created continue to be made today, carried on by people regardless of religious affiliation.

And among the things they made, the item that remains best loved and most widely carried on today is the Shaker box.

A Beauty Found Within Simple Construction

Like Japanese "bentwood" crafts such as wappa, the Shaker box is formed by softening thinly sliced wood and bending it into shape. Bentwood techniques have existed around the world since ancient times, but the Shaker box developed as it did because it succeeded in fusing "an everyday tool" with "an element of interior design."

Thinly sliced cherry wood is soaked in water until soft, then bent to fit the oval shape of the box mold.

The distinctive design feature of the Shaker box—the joint shaped like a swallow's tail, known as the "swallowtail"—incorporates functionality that accounts for the wood's natural expansion and contraction.

No adhesive is used; the box is held together with copper tacks and wooden dowels (small cylindrical pegs used to join pieces of wood together), making the structure extremely simple. Over time, not only the wood but also the copper tacks change color, developing an expression that speaks of the years passed.

Cherry wood is used for the Shaker box. Though there is some variation between individual pieces, it tends to be a lighter color, and the more it's used in daily life, the more its sheen and color deepen—a material that ages beautifully over time.

▲On the right is a Shaker box a staff member has used and loved for 10 years, keeping it on their office desk to hold stationery.

A glossy sheen has developed, and the color has deepened by several shades. The copper tacks, which were a pinkish-gold color when new, have also darkened along with the change in the wood's color, adding to its vintage feel.

The Shaker box featured at ZUTTO is made by Brent Rourke of Canada. He continues to make his work drawn not only to the Shaker box as a product that combines beauty and functionality, but also strongly to the underlying philosophy that "beauty resides in usefulness."

▲On the underside of each Shaker box is Brent Rourke's signature. Once a piece is completed, he signs each one individually.

For Storage, and for Interior Decor

An item that lets you feel the skill of handcraft, with a timeless design that can be used for years while aging beautifully.

This is one wonderful thing about the Shaker box, but another good point I've noticed through using one is that it's "an item you can keep using in different ways even as your lifestyle changes."

It will accompany whatever "life" comes your way from here on. Even as what you put inside it changes, I feel it offers an unchanging presence and a flexible, generous kind of storage.

【Nesting in 5 Sizes: The Basic Oval Shaker Box】

The Shaker box is distinguished by its lidded, oval shape. Sizes 1 through 5 all nest inside one another even with the lids on, making this a series that stores compactly whenever you're not using the full set of sizes.

Though originally an everyday tool, it has a beauty that makes you want to display it. Simply setting it on a shelf looks wonderful, and it's the kind of piece that brings a little joy whenever it catches your eye.

▲An OVAL SHAKER BOX (1) placed by the entryway. Keep keys, a personal seal, a pen, and even a little cash for cash-on-delivery packages inside, and you won't be caught off guard.

▲The OVAL SHAKER BOX(3) holds cosmetics and stands ready in front of the dresser.

▲All my treasured stoles gathered together in the OVAL SHAKER BOX(5).

What's curious is that with storage items, you'd normally have something you want to put away first, and then go looking for a box that suits it. But with Shaker boxes, it's the opposite—you find yourself wondering, "What would I like to put in this?"

【Full of classic charm with its handle, the SWING HANDLE BOX】

This series features a movable handle attached to the lidded oval Shaker box. The handle is, of course, meant to make carrying the box easier, but it's perfectly fine even if you have nothing in particular to carry.

▲An OVAL SHAKER BOX(1) placed inside the SWING HANDLE BOX(2). For simple sewing tasks like sewing on buttons, I just take out the small Shaker box alone and use it.

If I had to name something worth putting in the handled version, it would be items you want to use for working in various places around the house. For example, if you carry around sewing or knitting tools in it, you can enjoy handmade craft time whether in the living room or the bedroom.

If you keep your skincare and makeup tools in it, you can bring it out only in the morning and get ready calmly at the dining table.

▲It's curious how just putting your knitting supplies in a Shaker box makes knitting all the more enjoyable.

【The BUREAU TRAY, with its clever divider】

This is an oval Shaker box with a divider placed down the center and no lid. Since it's an open type, you can set it on your desk and use it to hold pens, clips, and other stationery.

Placed on a chest in the bedroom, it can serve as a tray to keep your favorite accessories ready to wear, or you can use it to beautifully display your glasses or sunglasses.

【The DIVIDED CARRIER, complete with a handle and divider】

The DIVIDED CARRIER stands out for the striking shape of its handle. It's a design that shows a touch of cuteness within its simplicity. With the handled versions, you also get to enjoy the smooth, pleasant texture of the wood.

At 36cm wide, it's relatively large. As shown in the photo, it can even hold brushes for shoes or clothes, so you could keep it by the entryway and put it to use for weekend shoe polishing.

Shaker furniture tends to favor simple, straight-lined forms, but the way curves are used as a design element in functional details like handles speaks to the philosophy of "beauty through use."

It's also nice to fill it with tea utensils and carry it around like a tray.

—The idea of a treasure box that's yours alone—

The Shakers, who were taught that all property should be held in common, are said to have made an exception for the contents of their Shaker boxes—those belonged to the individual alone.

Thinking back, when I was little, I used to keep my treasures carefully in a square tin decorated with a pretty pattern. An acorn picked up at the park, a bookmark my grandmother gave me, marbles, puffy stickers, a keychain souvenir... The contents of my treasure box have changed since then, but the flutter of excitement I feel when opening the lid hasn't changed one bit, even now that I'm an adult.

▲OVAL SHAKER BOX(1)

When I first saw a Shaker box, I felt that atmosphere of "a treasure box that's mine alone." Now that you're an adult, what treasure would you like to keep safe inside your own Shaker box?